A politician has changed his name to Osama Bin Laden in a bid to win votes.

But unlike the world’s most-wanted terror suspect, Sharief is known by many in the Philippines as a peacemaker.

He has helped broker truces when sporadic clashes have erupted between government troops and Muslim insurgents.

Sporting a half-metre-long beard, turban and a neck scarf similar to that worn by bin Laden in TV images, the 35-year-old Sharief has been campaigning frenziedly for a seat in a regional legislative council.

Posters bear his real name with the explosive moniker plastered in the middle in big, bold letters: “BIN LADEN.”

He owes his nickname partly to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Sharief said.

After attending a peace-and-order meeting led by Arroyo in Lanao in 2002, Sharief asked the president to pose for a souvenir picture with him.

Somebody in the crowd jokingly told Arroyo that he was known around town by the infamous nickname.

“Oh, I see, the young bin Laden of Mindanao,”

Sharief quoted Arroyo as saying. The crowd erupted in laughter and applause.

“When I walked out of that meeting, I had a different name – bin Laden,” Sharief said.

Many villagers have reacted with shock at the name, but when Sharief captures their attention, he said he seizes the opportunity to explain his political platform calling for peace and an end to social ills such as poverty, which grips his predominantly Muslim province.